OXFORD

WORKING FOR YOURSELF
Every year, graduates from every subject consider
starting their own business or social enterprise. Serial
entrepreneur and author James Caan has said that
success in business is 5% idea and 95% process. So,
need personality, energy and commitment as well to
make your business work.
Aditya Kasliwal
Founder, SpeakSet
“Everyone looks at start-ups as a risky
option. That is true but what have you
got to lose coming straight out of Uni?
It’s worth a shot! Even if it doesn’t work
out, you’ll have learned so much more
than you would doing anything else for
a year.”
Entrepreneurship is increasingly visible here at Oxford –
explore www.eship.ox.ac.uk for great resources and advice,
from the basics and getting started, to ideas for support,
resources and training, funding options, and accelerators
and incubators.
HOW TO GET STARTED
If you’re about to get started you’ll need several things:
+ An idea – consider what problem you’re solving, what
solutions exist now, and how yours compares.
+ Evidence
plan and competitor analysis.
+ Other people – such as a business partner who brings
complementary skills, a business mentor for advice,
contacts to make your business work, and friends or
family as a support network.
+ Infrastructure – you might need premises to operate
from, phone/ internet, website, transport.
+ Formal registration – identifying yourself as selfemployed
to the government, and registering a business
name: check www.companieshouse.gov.uk for available
names.
+ Money – most enterprises require some capital to get
started, whether it’s buying equipment, or just covering
your own living costs. There are many funding sources
to encourage entrepreneurs – see www.eship.ox.ac.
uk – and for a social enterprise, The Careers Service
and Oxford Hub offer generous grants termly. Get
independent advice if you’re considering a loan.
LEARN MORE BEFORE YOU START
+ Develop your skills through an internship (pp.35-39).
+ Work in a Small to Medium size Enterprise (SME) to get
initial business experience and learn from people who
have started their own company. One good source is
www.enternships.com.
+ Join the Oxford Entrepreneurs Society to meet likeminded
students, get advice, and opportunities for
pitching, funding and networking.
+ Work with our Entrepreneur in Residence through the
Business Mentoring programme (p.34).
+ Sign up to the Saïd Business School’s free Building a
Business course, and see their webpage for last year’s
material.
+ Take part in The Student Consultancy (p.33) – many
teams work with early-stage organsiations.
WORKING FREELANCE
A large number of Oxford students begin their careers by
working freelance – most frequently in the media, arts,
translation and education. Much of the advice above is
also relevant to freelancers: you will, for example, need to
assess the market, register yourself as self-employed, and
agency – but a website, business cards and registering in
directories of businesses may be useful.
If you are considering working freelance, and you have no
visa restrictions to self-employment, you could start while
you are a student at Oxford – it is a good way to test the
water, assess the feasibility of supporting yourself, and start
building up a client base, but take care not to over-commit
and damage your academic study.
PSST! INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Student visas generally do not allow you to be selfemployed.
Graduating international students who want to
develop their business concept can apply to stay in the UK
on a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Visa. Applications are
invited every 3 or 4 months: dates are advertised by The
Careers Service.
MORE INFORMATION:
www.careers.ox.ac.uk/work-for-yourself
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